Showing papers in "Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics in 1989"

The dynamics of interstructural connection to prevent pounding

Abstract: Etude du comportement sismique de deux bâtiments relies par un systeme de transmission de forces entre etages, en modelisant le systeme comme un probleme de matrices combinees de masse et de rigidite; influence de la liaison sur la reduction du deplacement relatif et sur l'augmentation du cisaillement a la base de la structure plus rigide, pour frequences inferieures a la fondamentale

Steady state rocking response of rigid blocks part 1: Analysis

Abstract: The result of a theoretical study on the rocking response of rigid blocks subjected to sinusoidal base motion is presented. The study indicates that, for a given excitation amplitude and frequency, a rigid block can respond in several different ways. Based on analysis, the regions of different classes of steady state symmetric response solutions are mapped on the excitation amplitude-frequency parameter space. The steady state response solutions (both harmonic and subharmonic) are classified into two classes, out-of-phase and in-phase with respect to the excitation. Only out-of-phase solutions are found to be stable. A parametric study shows that steady rocking response amplitude is highly sensitive to the size of the block and the excitation frequency in the low frequency range. It is relatively insensitive to the excitation amplitude and the system's coefficient of restitution of impact. For two blocks of the same aspect ratio and coefficient of restitution subjected to the same excitation, the larger block always responds in smaller amplitude than the smaller block. Computer simulation is carried out to study the stability of the symmetric steady state response solutions obtained from analysis. It is found that as the excitation frequency is decreased beyond the boundary of stable symmetric response, the response becomes unsymmetric where the mean amplitude of oscillation is non-zero. Further decrease in excitation frequency beyond the stable unsymmetric response boundary causes instability in the form of overturning.

Seismic response of steel frame structures with added viscoelastic dampers

Abstract: The feasibility of using viscoelastic (VE) dampers to mitigate earthquake-induced structural response is studied in this paper. The properties of VE dampers are briefly described. A procedure for evaluating the VE damping effect when added to a structure is proposed in which the damping effect of VE dampers is incorporated into modal damping ratios through an energy approach. Computer simulation of the damped response of a multi-storey steel frame structure shows significant reduction in floor displacement levels.

A comparative study of performances of various base isolation systems, part I: Shear beam structures

Abstract: A comparative study of performances of different base isolators for shear beam type structures is carried out. Several leading base isolation systems, including the laminated rubber bearing with and without lead plug, the resilient-friction base isolator with and without sliding upper plate, and the EDF system are considered. Displacement and acceleration response spectra for a shear beam structure subject to the accelerograms of the N00W component of El Centro 1940 and the N90W component of Mexico City 1985 earthquakes and their magnified forms are evaluated. A series of parametric studies is carried out and advantages and disadvantages of various base isolation systems are identified. Comparisons of the results with the response spectra of a fixed-base structure show that the base isolation systems are, in general, highly effective in reducing the peak acceleration transmitted to the superstructure. Thus, the deflections and stresses generated in a base-isolated structure are significantly lower than those of a fixed-base one. Furthermore, the results of the study also show that the friction-type base isolators are less sensitive to severe variations in frequency content and amplitude of the ground acceleration.

An improved implicit-explicit time integration method for structural dynamics

Abstract: An explicit predictor-corrector algorithm is derived from the implicit α-method. This explicit algorithm is shown to have better stability and accuracy properties than its Newmark-based predecessor. This algorithm is then combined with the implicit α-method, resulting in an implicit-explicit α-method which can be effectively utilized for linear and non-linear structural dynamics calculations.

Steady state rocking response of rigid blocks part 2: Experiment

Abstract: The results of an experimental investigation on the rocking response of rigid blocks subjected to sinusoidal base motion is presented. It is shown that two common types of steady state response are harmonic and 1/3 subharmonic response. The measured steady state response amplitudes correlate well with theoretical predictions for both harmonic and 1/3 subharmonic responses. Within each type of steady state response, theoretical studies show that the system may respond in either a symmetric or an unsymmetric mode. A symmetric mode denotes that the block oscillates about a mean zero position while an unsymmetric mode implies the mean position of oscillation is at an inclined position. One form of unsymmetric response was observed in the experiment. In addition, almost periodic responses were also observed in the experiment, although their existence has not been reported in theoretical studies.

Seismic demand in medium‐ and long‐period structures

Abstract: Based on the results of an extensive parametric study of elastic and inelastic response of SDOF systems, in which the most important structural parameters were varied and ground motions of very different characteristics were taken into account, simple formulae for determining the seismic demand in SDOF systems with natural periods in the medium- and long-period range are proposed. Seismic demand is expressed in terms of the mean values of maximum relative displacements and maximum input energy. These results can be used to provide rough estimates of structural behaviour when different damage models are applied. As well as this, the proposed formulae can be used to construct design spectra of the Newmark-Hall type.

Coupling of boundary and finite elements for soil‐structure interaction problems

Abstract: The investigation of complex soil-structure interaction problems is usually carried out with numerical solution procedures such as the finite element or the boundary element method. It must be noted, however, that the choice of one or the other of these approaches is not just a matter of preferences; depending on the type of the problem under consideration, either boundary or finite elements may be more advantageous. A considerable expansion in the computational power can be obtained, on the other hand, if one resorts to hybrid schemes which retain the main advantages of the two methods and eliminate their respective disadvantages. This paper presents results obtained with a boundary element-finite element coupling procedure, and discusses its applicability to some representative soil-structure interaction problems. The structures considered are elastic systems, such as foundations, tunnels and filled trenches (modelled by finite elements), which are coupled with homogeneous elastic halfspaces (modelled by boundary elements). The examples demonstrate the importance of using a model that includes wave radiation effects. The coupling approach is formulated entirely in the time domain so that an extension of the algorithm to non-linear analyses seems to present no further difficulties.

Non‐linear earthquake response of concrete gravity dams part 1: Modelling

Abstract: A finite element procedure to model the non-linear earthquake response of concrete gravity dam systems is presented. A two-dimensional idealization is adopted for the dam and water in order to simplify the analysis and reduce the computational effort. The foundation of the dam is modelled as a rigid rectangular massless plate attached to a three-dimensional viscoelastic half-space. The non-linear behaviour is represented by smearing techniques and includes tensile cracking with subsequent opening, closing and sliding, as well as water cavitation in the reservoir. Special treatments are applied to suppress spurious oscillations in the water response associated with cavitation and to prevent cracks in the dam from spreading into wide zones. Experience from non-linear analyses is cited as it affects the design of the algorithm.

Dependence of Fourier spectrum amplitudes of recorded earthquake accelerations on magnitude, local soil conditions and on depth of sediments

Abstract: New empirical scaling equations of Fourier amplitude spectra of strong earthquake shaking are presented for the site characterization in terms of local geologic and local soil conditions simultaneously. It is shown that using only the local soil site classification may lead to biased results, and it is suggested that both soil and geologic conditions should be used together in estimation of the site specific spectrum amplitudes.

Rotational components of surface strong ground motion

Abstract: Rotational components of seismic waves have been estimated using the strong motion array in Taiwan, SMART-1. The inner rings of accelerographs, covering an approximately circular area of 3 km2, permit a decomposition of travelling waves with wavelengths in the range 0.5 to 5.0 km and frequencies from 0.1 to 5 Hz. Rotational components of the strain field, obtained from station pairs and averaged over the array using stacking techniques, were computed for five different earthquakes with Ms magnitude 5.7 to 7.8, and epicentral distances 6 to 84 km. The results indicate peak rotation values about a vertical axis on the order of 4 × 10−5 rad at an approximately 2.5 s period. The measured values for pure rotation and rocking are in agreement with the spatial coherency structure observed in these earthquakes. For comparison, significant effects to engineered structures generally appear when curl u > 10−4 rad. The estimates are important for design of scaled engineered models for soil-structure interaction experiments.

Ambient vibration survey of the bosporus suspension bridge

Abstract: Traffic and wind excitation has been used to obtain the dynamic characteristics of the first Bosporus (Bogazici) Suspension Bridge. Structural symmetry and the absence of suspended side-spans allowed attention to be focused on the main span and the Asian tower. A detailed comparison is given between these modes and corresponding calculated modes, obtained by use of a three-dimensional finite element model which includes a geometric stiffness matrix. Of particular interest is the validity of the theoretical model used for the box-deck. Comparison with a more limited study made in 1973 shows that the bridge continues to behave as it was designed to behave, particularly with regard to the deck-tower interface. From natural frequency measurements of two hangers, the load which they carry was assessed

Earthquake analysis of a class of torsionally‐coupled buildings

Abstract: An effective procedure is summarized without derivation for estimating the maximum response of a class of torsionally-coupled, multi-storey buildings due to earthquake ground motion characterized by response spectra. The analysis procedure is shown to be efficient and to provide insight into torsional coupling effects because the maximum response of such a torsionally-coupled, N-storey building in its njth mode of vibration is determined exactly by analysing (i) the response in the jth vibration mode (j = 1,2, N) of the corresponding torsionally-uncoupled, N-storey system; and (ii) the response in the nth vibration mode (n = 1, 2 for a one-way symmetric plan) of an associated torsionally-coupled, one-storey system. It is also demonstrated that an earlier, simpler approach in which the total (considering all vibration modes) response of the building is determined from the total response of the two simpler systems is strictly valid only under restrictive conditions, which are identified, but the simpler approach leads to results that are accurate to a useful degree.

On the rotational components of seismic motion

Abstract: The surface motion during an earthquake is different from point to point depending on the propagation properties of the seismic waves. Rocking and torsion are thus present in the free field, in proportion to the spatial derivatives of the surface motion with respect to a given direction. These derivatives are inversely proportional to the apparent wave velocity in that direction, so the smaller the wave apparent velocity, the more important its contribution to the rotations. In this respect, a marked contribution to surface rotations from surface waves is expected. A mathematical model is presented, based on a detailed representation of soil impedance, an approximate identification of surface waves and a deconvolution of body waves in P and SV contributions. Through this model the surface motion obtained from the records of strong-motion accelerometers can be expressed as a superposition of plane waves of known wavelengths. Rocking response spectra are computed and results are compared with previously published spectra. A sensitivity analysis is performed on some parameters of the model.

Effects of concrete cracking on the earthquake response of gravity dams

Abstract: Tensile stresses exceeding the tensile strength of concrete can develop in concrete dams subjected to earthquake ground motion. This study examines the earthquake response of gravity dams including tensile cracking of the concrete. The interaction between the dam and compressible water is included in the analysis using a numerical procedure for computing the non-linear dynamic response of fluid-structure systems. The crack band theory is used to model tensile cracking with modifications to allow for the large finite elements necessary for dam analysis. The earthquake response of a typical gravity dam monolith shows that concrete cracking is an important non-linear phenomenon. Cracking is concentrated near the base of the dam and near the discontinuities in the face slope. The extensive cracking, which develops due to ground motion typical of maximum credible earthquakes, may affect the stability of dams during and after strong earthquakes.

Seismic response of the superstructure and attached equipment in a base‐isolated building

Abstract: Base isolation can be used both to protect the structure and simultaneously to reduce the response of internal equipment. The seismic response of a base-isolated structure has been studied through the shaking table test or numerical calculation before. The object of this paper is to analyse a base-isolated structure by a different analytical approach—perturbation analysis. Recognizing that the horizontal stiffness of an isolation system is much smaller than that of the superstructure, the mathematical expressions of the modal properties of base-isolated structures are derived by the perturbation method in terms of the modal properties of the superstructure and used to study the dynamic response of superstructure and attached equipment in the base-isolated building. This study shows that the first base-isolated mode not only controls the superstructural response but also dominates the response of high-frequency attachment. The contribution of higher modes to the response of base-isolated structures, which is proportional to the horizontal stiffness of isolation system, is very small.

Non‐linear earthquake response of concrete gravity dams part 2: Behaviour

Abstract: The earthquake response of the idealized Pine Flat Dam—water—foundation system of Part 1 is investigated with emphasis on the non-linear behaviour associated with concrete cracking and water cavitation It is shown that water cavitation has little effect on the dam response On the other hand, concrete cracking plays a significant role, as demonstrated by several analyses on dams with initial cracks or weak lift joints and by a final analysis on a homogeneous dam The analyses encountered a number of numerical difficulties requiring further mesh refinement, and these are described A possible failure mode associated with inclined cracks is revealed

Recursive evaluation of interaction forces of unbounded soil in the time domain

Abstract: Note: [106] Reference LCH-ARTICLE-1989-019View record in Web of Science Record created on 2007-04-24, modified on 2016-08-08

Response of base‐isolated buildings to random excitations described by the Clough‐Penzien spectral model

Abstract: Etude de la reponse stationnaire, en analysant la variation en fonction de la frequence effective du deplacement relatif quadratique moyen base/fondation et du rapport entre les valeurs quadratiques moyennes de l'acceleration absolue au niveau du toit, avec et sans isolation; conclusion sur l'importance de l'effet d'absorption/dissipation d'energie du systeme a base isolee, plutot que sur l'effet de deplacement de la frequence fondamentale

Ritz vectors and generation criteria for mode superposition analysis

Abstract: A generation procedure of Ritz vectors to control the inclusion of static effect and the number of vectors in mode superposition dynamic analysis is presented. The original algorithm of the Ritz vectors is modified to improve stability in the generation procedure and to include the use of static residual. To reject unimportant Ritz vectors, cut-off criteria, which are based on the participation of mass distribution and spatial load distribution, are proposed

Earthquake analysis of intake‐outlet towers including tower‐water‐foundation‐soil interaction

Abstract: The available procedure for earthquake analysis of axisymmetric intake-outlet towers is extended to towers of arbitrary geometry, but with two axes of plan symmetry, and to include the effects of tower-foundation-soil interaction. The total system is represented as four substructures: tower, surrounding water, contained water and the foundation supported on flexible soil. The substructure representation of the system permits use of the most effective idealization for each substructure. An example earthquake response analysis is presented to demonstrate the results obtained from the analysis procedure. Computation times for several cases are included to demonstrate the efficiency of the analysis procedure.

Seismic stability of concrete gravity dams

Abstract: Linear finite element analyses are commonly used to simulate the behaviour of gravity dam—foundation systems. However, the foundation is generally unable to develop any significant tensile stresses. Therefore any tension occurring in the vicinity of the dam—foundation interface is largely fictitious. Moreover, the traditional overturning and sliding stability criteria have little meaning in the context of the oscillatory response of dams during earthquakes. In this study, time domain analyses using non-linear contact elements located at the dam—foundation interface have been used to determine the dynamic sliding and uplifting response of gravity dam monoliths considering various elastic foundation properties. The magnitudes of the relative interface displacements, of the percentage of base not in contact (PBNC) and of the compressive stresses at the heel or toe of the dam have been used to monitor the seismic stability. The numerical results have shown that the non-linear behaviour of the dam—foundation interface reduces the seismic response of the system, indicating the possibility of more rational and economical designs. The PBNC was identified as the critical seismic stability response parameter for all analyses except for very flexible foundation conditions where the maximum values of relative interface displacements need to be considered.

Bracketed and normalized durations of earthquake ground acceleration

Abstract: Multiple regression analyses of the duration of earthquake ground acceleration are presented. Two types of duration are considered, i.e. bracketed duration and normalized duration. The bracketed duration ta is defined as the elapsed time between the first and last acceleration excursions greater than a [cm/s2], and the normalized duration Tα is defined as the elapsed time between the first and last acceleration excursions greater than α times (0 < α < 1) the peak acceleration. Employed are 394 components of horizontal strong motion acceleration records obtained at 67 free field sites in Japan. With the use of multiple regression analysis, the dependence of the bracketed and normalized durations on earthquake magnitude and epicentral distance is studied.

A generalized least‐squares family of algorithms for transient dynamic analysis

Abstract: By use of the generalized least-squares procedure, in conjunction with a finite element approximation in time, a simple three-time-level family of time integration schemes is derived. This results in fourth-order accurate unconditionally stable algorithms and stable eighth-order accurate non-dissipative algorithms. Numerical examples show the accuracy of the proposed schemes in comparison with the Fox-Goodwin formula and Newmark's average acceleration method.

Dynamic vertical compliance of strip foundations in layered soils

Abstract: In this paper, results of a detailed investigation on the dynamic response of rigid strip foundations in viscoelastic soils under vertical excitation are presented. An advanced boundary element algorithm developed by incorporating isoparametric quadratic elements and a sophisticated self-adapting numerical integration scheme has been used for this investigation. Foundations supported on three types of soil profiles, namely, homogeneous half-space, stratum-over-half-space and stratum-over-bedrock are considered. The influence of material properties like Poisson's ratio and material damping as well as the influence of geometrical properties such as depth of embedment and layer thickness are studied. The effect of the type of contact at the soil-foundation interface is also investigated.

Recursive Evaluation of Interaction Forces of Unbounded Soil in the Time Domain from Dynamic-Stiffness Coefficients in the Frequency Domain

Abstract: Note: [108] Reference LCH-ARTICLE-1989-020View record in Web of Science Record created on 2007-04-24, modified on 2016-08-08

Analytic solutions for soil structure interaction in layered media

Abstract: SUMMARY The total system studied in this paper is a layered soil stratum with a rigid bedrock and a cylindrical cavity on the surface. Analytic solutions for the layered medium with prescribed harmonic displacement time history on the surface of the cylindrical cavity are presented. The whole soil domain is divided into interior and exterior domains. The interior domain is the projection of the cylindrical cavity down to the rigid bedrock, whereas the exterior domain is then the soil medium complement to the interior domain. The displacement and stress fields in both domains are expanded as an infinite series of Fourier components with respect to the azimuth. For each Fourier component in the infinite series, the solutions for both domains are found independently by solving the general differential equations of wave propagation satisfying the boundary conditions of the top surface and the lower rigid boundary. Displacement and stress continuity conditions are then imposed on the vertical interface between the two domains using the formulation of a weighted residual. For the soil-structure interaction problem, the impedance matrix at the interface between the structure and the soil medium can be easily generated using the analytic solutions, which can then be combined with the finite element model of the structure. A simple example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the procedure presented.

Transient Scattering of Elastic Waves by Dipping Layers of Arbitrary Shape Part 1: Antiplane Strain Model

Abstract: Scattering of elastic waves by dipping layers of arbitrary shape embedded within an elastic half-space is investigated for a plane strain model by using a boundary method. Unknown scattered waves are expressed in the frequency domain in terms of wave functions which satisfy the equations of motion and appropriate radiation conditions at infinity. The steady state displacement field is evaluated throughout the elastic medium for different incident waves so that the continuity conditions along the interfaces between the layers and the traction-free conditions along the surface of the half-space are satisfied in the least-squares sense. Transient response is constructed from the steady state one through the Fourier synthesis. The results presented show that scattering of waves by dipping layers may cause locally very large amplification of surface ground motion. This amplification depends upon the type and frequency of the incident wave, impedance contrast between the layers, component of displacement which is being observed, location of the observation station and the geometry of the subsurface irregularity. These results are in agreement with recent experimental observations.